1990 Alvarez-Yairi DY-62 Cutaway Dreadnought Guitar

This is a local customer's DY-62 and it's a favorite of its owner. Unfortunately, it had been severely damaged in the neck joint area over time and was simply "not in service" as it stood.

The problem with many modern cutaway guitars is that the neck joint is not really tough enough for the job and the neckblock and associated supporting bracing and whatnot is just not up to the task. Thus, if the neck takes a bit of a hit, these often get hairline cracks along the sides of the fretboard and then the whole joint shifts into the soundhole. This one was so bad that the fretboard extension was sitting nearly 1/4" forward of where it should have been.

My only "secure solution" to this mess is to fit dowels from neckblock to endblock to stabilize the instrument. I hate to do it but there's simply not enough real estate to add suitable "traditional reinforcement" around the neckblock area to make a traditional block-style repair useful. I still added reinforcement where I could and cleated-up any bad seams after I got the neck joint back to where I wanted it, but I didn't trust those patches to really hold the tension.

That's why you're seeing a couple of 3/8" dowels running through the soundhole. They're anchored in the neckblock and endblock and keep the guitar from collapsing into itself. I've had to do this repair to a number of similarly-built, same-period guitars that were basically totaled by this sort of damage and the common question is, "will it sound bad after the repair?"

The answer is clear and in the video -- nope! It sounds just as good and/or even better as the top is able to vibrate more freely without all of the structural complaints of resisting so much tension. This guitar now has a new lease on life and plays spot-on. It got a fret level/dress and setup work, too.

Anyone else love how the cedar top has been played so hard that the soundhole rosette stands proud of the grain all over?